About

Japan Travel Consulting (JTC) is a team of Japan travel journalists, long-term Japan residents and travel consultants. JTC is operated by Chris Rowthorn, a 20-year resident of Kyoto and author of 19 Japan guidebooks for Lonely Planet. The JTC team consists of four Lonely Planet Japan authors, the leading foreign expert on Japan hiking, and a Kyoto-based photographer and guide.

How It Works

We offer voice (Skype/Facetime), email and full trip planning services. See below for full details on each.

Voice consulting is great for high-level planning. We help you choose your destinations within Japan, your mode of travel, the places you’ll stay and your activities. We don’t produce a full, detailed itinerary, but we send you a list of links and place names following the conversation.

Email consulting is like voice consulting, but it’s via email. It’s a good choice if you don’t have time to speak. Like voice consulting, it’s great for high-level planning. We help you choose your destinations within Japan, your mode of travel, the places you’ll stay and your activities. We don’t produce a full, detailed itinerary, but we send you a list of links and place names following the conversation.

Full trip planning usually starts with a voice consultation. Then, we work with you by email to produce a full itinerary, with accommodation recommendations, daily itineraries, transport information and, in some cases, restaurant recommendations. This usually comes in the form of a Word document or a PDF, and it might include Google maps, where necessary.

Rates

US$175 per hour
for all types of consulting (about €153)

Payment

Payment is via PayPal (you do not need a PayPal account to make a payment).

Payment is in advance for voice and email consulting. For full trip planning, payment is usually in two-hour increments.

In short, we provide all the knowledge you need to make the most of your trip. We tell you the best places to visit, to stay and to eat.

In some cases, we are also available for private guiding. Wes lives in Osaka and can guide Osaka and the mountains in Japan. Paul lives in Kyoto and can guide Kyoto and Nara. Of course, this depends on their availability. In other cases, we can introduce the best private guides in Japan.

What We Don’t Do

Since we are not travel agents, we do not actually book your trip for you. That means:

We don’t sell or reserve transport (train tickets, plane tickets, etc). But, we tell you the best deals and how to buy tickets on your own (note that it’s difficult to purchase Japan train tickets before arrival in the country).

We don’t book accommodation. However, we can check availability and rates of hotels and ryokan. And, we tell you the best deals and how to book them on your own.